Two Tales For Halloween

SHE WORE GREEN

In a sleepy Essex village a long time ago a young gentleman lay gravely ill. An old family retainer was asked to become the night nurse to this young man. He was in critical condition and unable to speak. The house was, at that time, rented by a nobleman and was lived in by members of his family who kept themselves to themselves.

Well, on the first night the old nurse sat by the glowing log fire watching over her patient and hearing only the moaning of the wind in the dark night. At around midnight the patient started to breathe heavily and seemed very uneasy and restless. As she looked at her patient the old nurse was startled to see a lady in a green silk gown with a black veil over her black bonnet sitting by the head of the bed.

The nurse was not alarmed as she thought it was a relative although she had not heard this lady enter the room. It did cross her mind that it was very cold and rather late for a visitor to call and also the doctor had advised that his patient should receive no visitors until his condition improved.

The lady sat watching the patient and the nurse began to feel a strange repulsion especially when the lady approached closer to the bed and bent over him. The nurse felt unable to speak and the lady made no sound. Eventually, with the lateness of the hour and the heat from the fire the old nurse started to doze off. Shaking herself awake she found that the lady had disappeared and the patient had returned to being very calm.

The following night it was very stormy and sleet was hitting the window, the wind howled down the chimney and doors banged in the wind. The nurse was edgy and very uneasy and decided that she would tell her master that she no longer wanted the responsibility of looking after the young man during the night. Suddenly her patient started breathing heavily again and looking towards him she saw once again the lady in green seated by his bed.

The nurse assumed by now that this lady must actually be staying in the house and  was not visiting for she noticed that the woman’s dress had a very low bodice and was the sort of garment that was worn in the summer during that period of history and it was quite unsuitable for the winter weather. The nurse got up and went towards the bed but the lady in green waved her back. However, the poor young man was getting so distressed that the nurse rose again to go to the bed. The lady immediately drew her veil close across her face and went to stand by the window. The patient appeared to be in agony, perspiration rolling down his face and eyes full of horror as they turned toward the window where the woman was standing. The nurse tried to calm the young man but he would have none of it.

Reluctantly the nurse returned to her place beside the fire and the lady returned to the bedside. The nurse could not remember taking her eyes of her but she must have done for a moment and when she looked again, as before, the lady was gone and the patient was calm.

The nurse told the doctor the next morning that she simply could not carry on, these experiences had scared her. The doctor seemed very surprised but he begged her to carry on for one more night until a replacement could be found.

The night she was determined to watch for the lady entering the room but she was defeated. Tiredness made her yawn and whilst she was yawning the lady once more appeared in the room. Once again the old nurse approached the bed and, once again, the lady retreated to the window. The young man was terror struck, his eyes bulging from their sockets, unaware of anything but the mysterious lady. Nurse was alarmed by his condition and decided to go for assistance when suddenly the lady moved to the door. The nurse already had one hand on the door latch and with the other she tried to raise the lady’s veil. When she did lift it, she screamed and screamed. For instead of a face there was a death’s head inside the black bonnet. A hideous laugh rang out from the lady in green and the old nurse fell senseless to the floor.

The next morning the old nurse was found on the floor gibbering and the young man was stone dead and had been for some hours.

The mysterious young man was buried in the parish church with a lavish funeral and a metal plaque on the coffin reading “Charles Leroy died 29 February - Remember”

The old nurse died within three months of her ghastly ordeal and ever since the gloomy chamber is said to have a strange feeling of coldness and unease by whoever occupies it but the green lady never appeared again.

AND MOTHER CAME TOO

Trevor P. worked for many years as a bus conductor in Plymouth, Devon. His job was to sell tickets and help passengers on and off the buses.

One summer day he was working as usual on his normal route heading into Plymouth from the east of the town. The bus stopped in the suburbs to pick up passengers. At one stop there were  two couples and an elderly lady waiting. These people took some time asking Trevor where the bus actually went - did it go right into the centre of the town, how long would it take etc. etc. so Trevor had far more time than normal to get a good look at his new passengers.

There were two middle-aged women whom to Trevor were obviously sisters and the two middle-aged men appeared to be their husbands. The elderly lady bore a striking resemblance to the two other women so Trevor assumed she must be their mother.

He was quite startled by the elderly woman as she was wearing clothes more appropriate for a much younger woman. Her outfit was fake leopardskin and he noticed a large turquoise butterfly brooch. She had handbag and shoes to match. He thought she looked very smart but very loud especially for Plymouth. Still he thought, each to their own.

The five passengers climbed to the upper deck of the bus, the elderly lady being the last to ascend. On her way up Trevor was amazed when she gave him a wink.

When he went up to collect the fares, one of the men asked for four tickets to the city centre. “No, said Trevor, you mean five tickets, there are five of you.” The man was adamant that there were only four of them. Looking around Trevor realised he could not see the elderly lady anywhere on the top deck of the bus. He walked up and down half expecting her to leap out from behind a seat  at him.  He knew she had not gone downstairs.

He had no alternative but to sell the four tickets requested but he did tell them that when they boarded the bus there were five of them, he was absolutely sure. They seemed surprised.

On reaching their destination one of the woman took hold of Trevor’s arm. She wanted to know what he meant by there being five of them. So Trevor described how the elderly woman looked and exactly what she was wearing - he even said he was sure she was the mother of the two women.

The lady went white and looked very uncomfortable. “You are right. She was our mother and the outfit is exactly what she wore the last time we all went out together. Then she added “That was ten years ago, the day before she died.”

Have a Happy Halloween everyone but don't get too spooked!